Read Online Rystani Warrior 04 - The Quest by Susan Kearney - Free Book Online

difficult Challenge, and their love story had been made into holovids. It seemed strange that Kirek could be from such a famous family and that she hadn’t recognized him. Although Kirek was a common Rystani name, why hadn’t his face also been plastered on the holovids? “How do I know you aren’t lying to impress me?”
    Kirek appeared genuinely puzzled. “Why would my family impress you?”
    “Tessa and Kahn are legends.” She wouldn’t have been as impressed by royalty or presidents. But she admired adventurers and explorers. People who soared into the unknown and blazed trails. Perhaps she was romanticizing the Challenge, but she’d grown up reading the story in her history books.
    He shrugged. “Dora and Zical are legends, too. They reprogrammed the Sentinels which guard the galaxy against the Zin. Xander and Alara saved the Federation from the virus. Everyone did their duty.”
    “But they succeeded where others could not and in spectacular fashion. Why haven’t you asked them to help you with the Zin?”
    “Zin spies are always watching. I have a better chance of slipping through their defenses alone, on a small ship, with strangers.” He spoke easily. “I’m just as proud of my mother’s cooking as I am of the rest of the family.”
    As she bit into the salad and the tangy sweet taste spread over her tongue, she grinned. “She taught you well.”
    “Thank you. Since I’ve been gone so much, she’s been cooking for Dora’s twins and Tessa and Kahn’s two boys.” His mouth softened as he spoke about his family, sending warning signals straight to her brain.
    She knew Rystani valued their families. She’d read about their old-fashioned values. She realized that as sure as old Sol kept shining, Kirek would want a family of his own one day. The need was stamped all over his handsome face. For his sake, she should maintain a distance. Because clearly, he was interested in her. There could be no mistaking the heat in his eyes. But she valued her independence way too much to hook up with a Rystani male, one who took his “hooking up” way too seriously.
    “How does Tessa find time to be a mom and run a planet?” she asked as she dug into a potato.
    “My mother and Shaloma help. So does Alara. Tessa still frequently sneaks away for lunchtime picnics with Kahn and the boys.” Kirek made their life sound practically idyllic.
    “Do you think Tessa is bored with her life?” she asked.
    Kirek laughed. “She adores those boys. She’s trying to talk Kahn into another child. She wants a girl. I’m sure Tessa will get her way—she usually does when it comes to her husband. He loves her with his whole heart—even when they’re fighting. Maybe especially when they are fighting.”
    “Now, that I would like to see.”
    “Come to Mystique and I’ll introduce—”
    “Captain.” Leval interrupted their meal over the com.
    “Yes?”
    “If we maintain this heading, we’ll exit the cloud within twenty Federation minutes. Already our sensors are picking up indications the Kraj ship is waiting for us.”
    So Kirek’s assessment of the Kraj tactics had been correct. They hadn’t given up. Neither would she. “Change direction, twenty degrees to starboard.”
    “Aye, Captain.” He paused. “The Kraj ship is turning with us.”
    “I’m on my way to the bridge. Find an option to get us to Dakmar without confronting the Kraj ship.” She stood and took a potato with her as Kirek cleaned away their implements. “Thanks for the meal.”
    On the bridge, Angel discovered the situation to be exactly as Leval had described it. The Kraj ship hadn’t entered the cloud and remained on the fringe of their sensor readings. While her first officer piloted, Frie monitored the data and shook her head in disgust.
    “Kraj sensors must be more sensitive than ours. They seem to know exactly which way we’re heading but are no doubt afraid to follow us into this dust storm. With the Raven towing the Vogan ship,